


Bad decisions make good stories

by MyFandomCausesHanaji



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, M/M, Romance, Same-Sex Marriage, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-17 11:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyFandomCausesHanaji/pseuds/MyFandomCausesHanaji
Summary: “Feeling nostalgic for your flashy look, Ed?” Roy commented on the red coat on Ed’s shoulders and the leather pants, that the younger man, much to Roy’s regret ― they did look quite exquisite on Ed’s fine ass ― almost never wore these days.“Dammit, bastard, put something on!” Ed said at the same time, jerking his eyes away from Roy and flushing red from the cheeks to the tips of his ears. Roy haven’t seen such a reaction in a while.“What?”“What?”





	Bad decisions make good stories

**Author's Note:**

> yeah yeah, I know, I should be writing that final chapter for "Lest we forget" but here I am. I'm still struggling with a writer's block and a lack of inspiration, so it's not that I'm lazy or smth. 
> 
> Anyway, would you look at this -- no "angst" tag, how did it happen. Writer's block doesn't work well with angst, that's how it happened.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this silly time-travel fic. Cheers.
> 
> Proofread, as usual, Himeneka.

The loud clatter of the metal tray crashing on the kitchen tiles and what sounded like several cups or plates breaking woke Roy up on a Sunday morning.

He didn’t open his eyes right away, but smiled sleepily, rolling to the other side of the bed, that had already cooled off but still smelled distinctly like Ed. It wasn’t too often that Ed would willingly crawl out of the warm sheets in the weekends before Roy, but when he did, it was usually for the purpose of making Roy breakfast in bed. Which was Ed’s version of Roy’s romantic ― _sappy_ , as Ed always called them ― comments and compliments, and usually meant that Edward was especially pleased with the outcome of their last night activities.

Not that he wasn’t _always_ pleased with their love-making ― Roy made sure to personally look into his husband being utterly satisfied each time and was quite confident in his abilities ― but apparently Ed didn’t think, unlike Roy, that every time was worth the great effort he put into dragging himself out of the bed for the sake of feeding Roy before he was even fully awake. As much as Roy wanted to argue here, he took what he got.

And for Roy it was something more than Ed simply taking care of his hunger in the mornings. For Roy it was louder than any _I love you_ , that Ed was saying very rarely, preferring to demonstrate his feelings rather than just announce them.

For Roy it was a still sleepy warm Ed in boxers and Roy’s shirt, that was too big for Ed, but _“it smells like you”,_ and with a bed head of long messy golden hair _._ It was Ed that would come inside their bedroom with a tray of simple breakfast in his hands, and it was Ed, who would not very patiently wait for Roy to consume his coffee and food, to then push the empty tray aside to crawl into Roy’s embrace and initiate a lazy and slow morning sex, so different from what they had last night, but as loving as always.

For Roy it was Ed who Roy still thought he didn’t quite deserve.

And it was Ed who would destroy half of the kitchen in the process of making said breakfast more often than not, and even that was already the part of this ritual that was so precious to Roy, and Roy wouldn’t have it any other way.

He inhaled Ed’s scent from his pillow and waited for muffled swears, a clap and the distant tingling of  Ed’s alchemy bringing the shattered pieces of porcelain together. A few seconds passed, but only silence followed, and Roy opened his eyes. A loud and genuinely confused _What the fuck_ sounded instead, and Roy sat in the bed. He wasn’t particularly worried, but it was a step out of the familiar routine, and it was better to mitigate Ed’s anger that usually would follow a confusion as fast as possible, whatever it was that caused said confusion in the first place.

Roy got out of the bed, grabbed a pair of boxers from a drawer, put them on and walked out of the bedroom. Heavy steps sounded from the kitchen when he was walking down the stairs, and he had time to wonder why Ed would put his boots on in the house, when Ed emerged from the hallway and they both froze on their tracks. Ed, with a half open mouth, was managing to look confused, embarrassed and infuriated at the same time, while as he was, for the lack of other word, ogling Roy while apparently trying to not let Roy notice, and failing miserably. As for Roy, he suspected he looked as amused as he felt.

“Feeling nostalgic for your flashy look, Ed?” Roy commented on the red coat on Ed’s shoulders and the leather pants, that the younger man, much to Roy’s regret ― they did look quite exquisite on Ed’s fine ass ― almost never wore these days.

“Dammit, bastard, put something on!” Ed said at the same time, jerking his eyes away from Roy and flushing red from the cheeks to the tips of his ears. Roy haven’t seen such a reaction in a while.

“What?”

“What?”

They both blinked at each other, and Roy walked down the rest of the stairs, now feeling some part of the confusion written on his husband’s face.

“You dropped the tray again?” He tried, looking at the mess in the kitchen doorway, choosing not to address Ed’s odd decision to put on his old clothes on first thing in the morning. At least for now.

“What? What tray?” Ed frowned and, following Roy’s gaze looked over his shoulder to where the said tray and white porcelain shards were lying in the slowly widening pool of cooling coffee. Roy quickly pushed back an almost sorrow feeling that threatened to appear on his face at the view of such precious in the morning hours liquid to be so irretrievably wasted. Ed didn’t notice his struggles and there was no recognition in his eyes, when he looked back at Roy, too evidently trying not to look anywhere below his neck, and Roy tilted his brow in question, when Ed added, “What are you doing here all naked?”

“I happen to live here, Ed,” he deadpanned, now positively confused and slightly worried ― Ed, despite his rather devious nature, was not one for pranks.

Ed looked around, as if he only just noticed where he was. “Oh.”

Oh? What did he mean, _oh_? Roy was about to ask that, when, probably hit by some realisation, Ed widened his eyes and then squinted them and frowned, now looking positively displeased, and Roy had a feeling, Ed for some reason chose him as the target of his displeasure. As always.

“Ok, then what the fuck am _I_ doing here?”

Ed was clearly getting angry, and Roy suddenly felt uncomfortable under his gaze, and he had to fight the urge to flee to the bedroom to put on some clothes. Ashamed and confused by his own unexpected reaction, he straightened his back and pushed the thoughts of his undressed stated away.

“Ed, are you feeling alright?” he asked instead, forcing himself not to move from where he was standing, rather well understanding what kind of reaction such a question can draw out of his husband, but the need to ask something to at least attempt to clear the situation was dire, and his sleepy mind, lacking its mandatory portion of morning caffeine, that was now mocking Roy from the floor a few meters away, was coming short on the ideas for possible lines Roy could drop Ed now without risking to fuel his anger even more.

“I am feeling perfect, Mustang, but I should be feeling it in Xing and not in your house!” Ed crossed his arms on his chest and his eyes made a fast once over of the hall they were standing in, and the crease between his eyebrows deepend, when he looked back at Roy. “Or, if anything, you shouldn’t be here as well.”

What?.. Roy couldn’t make sense of anything Ed was talking about. And what was that with his last name again?! Edward had completely stopped calling him by this name a little short before they got married almost two years ago.

“Ed, what―”

Roy didn’t have a chance to finish the sentence, when Ed’s eyes widened, mouth falling agape, he unfolded his arms and, stepping swiftly into Roy’s space, grabbed his shoulders, mouthing something that looked like _Holy shit._

“What year is it?!” He practically screamed in Roy’s face, tightening his grip on him, automail fingers digging painfully into the muscle.

Did Ed break that tray at his own head?..

Roy opened his mouth to answer but once again was interrupted by Ed giving him a shake before letting go of him in favor of pacing back and forth in front of him with the expression on his face Roy knew way too well from all the times Ed’s genius was striked with exceptionally unexpected and highly exciting new discovery. Roy did _not_ like this look. It usually was followed by Ed trying a newfound discovery in practice, that resulted with Roy dealing with an aftermath of random Ed’s scaled destructions of either his own or public property. After all the years Roy still couldn’t decide which was worse.  

“I can’t believe you were right, and I didn’t see it,” Ed started talking, not gracing Roy with a single look and probably forgetting of his existence for a moment. That wasn’t anything Roy wasn’t used to deal with, so he just leaned at a wall, watching Ed curiously and waiting for an opportunity when whatever Roy said to Ed would not be completely ignored. “You can’t travel time without moving in space, otherwise you would end up in the middle of nowhere, but I was sure the time part would be the hardest of it, and that array was so clearly built for moving something to another position, so I thought it was just some teleportation or some shit like that, and I can’t believe you were right about those elements being tied to time frame, not space…” Ed trailed off, stopping abruptly in his pacing, with his back to Roy.

Roy almost missed this, trying to process what he just heard. Time-travel? Was it even possible? If so, the alchemy behind this should be extremely complicated. The thought about it seemed in a way familiar though, but Roy couldn’t on the spot remember when he could’ve possibly had a similar conversation.

So, this Edward was not in fact _this_ Ed, but the one from the past, perhaps ― Roy really doubted Ed would all of the sudden start wearing his old clothes in the future, but he still tend to prefer the less flashy clothes even a couple of years back. So what year did this Edward come from? And, more importantly, where did _his_ Ed go?

While Roy was absorbed in his own thoughts, Edward turned around and now was looking at him with the wide happy grin and the shiny eyes with a whit of mischief in them, that to the people not familiar with how Ed’s mind worked, might have seemed as a bit unhealthy, but was completely normal for Ed when it came to discovering something that came close to blowing his mind. And this happened not very often.

“What year is it, Bastard?” he asked Roy happily, as if he was waiting for the man to give him his birthday present. That were almost always books, by the way. Roy tried going with something different once, that might be considered more romantic by _normal_ people, but all he had gotten in return had been a look that clearly said what Roy could do with his romantic gestures and where he should shove those completely disgusting and useless presents, because Ed _is not some brainless wallflower who need these stupid courting gifts, did I really fuck your brain out, or what, Roy?!_  

Roy thought he might soon run out of ideas for the books to give to his husband, because the amount of them in the world was after all quite limited, but Ed’s urge of burying his nose in them was not, and Roy feared Ed was getting dangerously close to the point where all the books worthy of his attention would be already read by him.

“It’s 1923,” Roy answered, watching Edward’s reaction closely. He couldn’t be from too far back in time, otherwise Roy would notice his much younger look right away.

“So four years, huh. Not that much,” Edward answered, scratching the back of his head, and Roy could swear there was disappointment in his voice. Leave it to Ed to be upset that some barely researched array had thrown him just four years in time and not twenty. Edward looked back at Roy and suddenly pointed at him with one finger, and the gesture looked a bit too accusatory for Roy’s liking. Well, now, what had _he_ done? “How come you didn’t recognise me? I mean, couldn’t you see, that I was from the past? Sure, I’ve grown more since then, Bastard!” Edward removed his finger from under Roy’s nose when he finished speaking and put his hands on his hips, looking extremely pleased ― probably from the thought that he would be taller in four years ― and irritated at the same time, perhaps taking Roy’s indifference to his presumably height change as a personal offence.

The thing was, that after hitting a growing spurt when he was eighteen, and growing almost ― _almost ―_ to Roy’s height, Ed hadn’t grown an inch since, and that miniscule difference in their heights was still a thorn in Ed’s side and Roy’s secret pleasure ― having to bend his neck just that tiny bit and force Ed to look up at him when they kissed was absolutely delightful. Plus, since it was a sore topic for Ed, now and then Roy still was able to drop a height joke, that made Ed furious, and furious Ed was absolutely gorgeous, and Roy treasured those moments, when he shed clothes from his raging husband while the young man was sputtering insults and obscenities, making it look like he is trying to fight back against Roy’s wandering hands, but actually quite deliciously arching toward them, and Roy then could catch that slight change in Ed’s breathing when being breathless with anger was giving place to aroused gasps, and the flush on Ed’s face and chest was no longer of rage but of want.

Shaking himself out of the very, _very_ distracting thoughts, Roy turned his attention back to his guest from the past, and shrugged, tilting his lips in a mocking smile.

“My dear Edward, I hate being a bearer of bad news, but I’m afraid your height has never reached the levels of your ego, to the great relief of everyone who knows you.”

Air left Edward’s chest with an angry puff, he quickly crossed the distance between them and tried to punch Roy in the chest, but Roy, expecting that, stepped to the side with a laugh.

“Damn you, Mustang, again those height jokes, shouldn’t you be tired of them by now?!” Edward was glaring now, but his eyes now and then dropped down to Roy’s bare chest and shoulders, only to be jerked back to his face the next moment. He had a light blush covering his cheeks, and it was absolutely adorable. Roy had to admit, that as much as he loved their relationship now, there was just something enthralling about how Ed was right after they had just gotten together, blushing in the mix of shyness and arousal. Roy once was reckless enough as to call him cute at such moment. He learnt his mistake as Ed’s fist collided with his stomach. “Just a dirty lie, why would I believe you,” Edward went on, finally able to get control of his wandering eyes and fix them safely somewhere at Roy’s forehead. Roy was having the time of his life watching his struggles, and it was getting harder not to let it be shown on his face. “I bet you haven’t even seen me much, so you just don’t know that I’ve grown.”

Edward nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied with this conclusion, and Roy decided not to argue. There was another question he was way more interested in at the moment.

“Speaking of you from this time, would you happen to know where he might be? And what is that array you mentioned?”

“Ah, he is probably switched places with me,” Edward waved his hand in _no big deal_ gesture. “It would be more like, switched time and space, but you get what I mean.”

“Are you positive?” Roy asked, letting his voice show some of the worry he felt on top of some of the distant, but quite real excitement the alchemist in him felt ― until now he had been positive time-travel was another limitation of what alchemy could achieve in addition to bringing back the dead.

“Sure, I’m fucking positive, I’ve spent four nights nose deep in that array.” Roy would argue that four nights was not nearly enough to make sense of an array as complicated as that one, but again, it was Ed ― it wouldn’t be the first time he cracked something that would’ve taken others months or even more in a such short period of time. “Plus equivalent exchange, you know. So all good, it’s not like I replaced my future self here, though it is weird that I appeared in your house, perhaps the coordinates were wrong…” Edward dropped his eyes on the floor and scratched his neck, and Roy pushed back what probably was a mix of chuckle and awkward cough. “Anyway, better than finding myself floating in space. So my future self should be fine as well. I think… It is weird though, it would make more sense if both elements were tied together and not to the point in space, that would make the calculations much simpler.” Edward was pacing back and forth again, talking to himself. “So theoretically it would be more logical if we literally switch places… Hey, bastard, are you following?” Edward turned his attention back to Roy. “Or you completely fried your brain with all the diplomacy shit these past four years?”

“Don’t worry, Ed, I am still as sharp as four years ago,” Roy said with a smug smile, ignoring Edward’s irritated huff. “Making the array tie a time-traveller to their own self but from the chosen period of time, should indeed make it easier and avoid the mistake with trying to calculate the exact coordinates where our galaxy and the point on the planet in particular was or will be in space at that time. Taken, that future version of the time-travel is still alive in the chosen moment in future.”

“Exactly. Just switch ‘em, easy-peasy,” Edward snapped his fingers, apparently demonstrating how simple it could be done. “And oh, hey, guess I’m gonna live at least four more years, how about that!” He added and laughed. Roy gave him a tight smile, cringing internally, as he positively didn't see anything funny in the way Ed always put his safety behind everything else, even now, when, as Ed hesitantly admitted to him once, he finally felt the happiest as he had ever been in his life. “Hey, bastard, did future me came to visit you or something?”

“Mm. You can say that.” There were indeed Ed’s boots standing near the front door, and as long as Edward didn’t go wandering around the house, this should be enough for him to assume, that his future self just paid a short social visit. Although, Roy thought, it was probably too optimistic to hope for the young man not to notice anything else. And there was _a lot_ to notice.

“Hm. Well, that’s good.That we are still kind of friends I mean,” Edward said quietly, looking down to his feet, and Roy recognised the move as that aimed to let the fringe of his hair hide the expression in his eyes — this Edward might still doubt that his feelings toward Roy are reciprocated, but Roy knew what he was hoping for and could clearly hear it in his voice.  

“Yes. It’s good,” Roy said honestly, leaning at the staircase handrails, fingers of one hand absentmindedly tapping a random rhythm on the wooden surface. He let his lips curl in a warm smile. It was more than good, what he had with Ed, it was so much more than both of them had ever dreamt of, that even Roy, with his ability to weave words into vivid pictures, could not express what having Ed in his life truly meant to him. ‘Good’ didn’t really cover even a small fraction of it.

“Oh, wow.” The surprise in Edward’s voice interrupted Roy’s musings and he looked at the young man, raising his brows in question. Edward was looking at Roy’s hand, eyes wide. “Wow, you are married.” He visibly swallowed, for a brief moment looking vulnerable and younger than his age. He blinked twice, before looking up from the ring on Roy’s finger. “Congrats. Is she upstairs?” Edward asked in a small voice, and Roy instantly regretted that he hadn’t thought of pulling off the ring as soon as he learned that this Ed was from the past. He had been worried what it could do with their pasts, if Edward realised that his future self not just visited, but actually lived here, on top of being married to Roy. But for whatever reason the thought of what seeing the ring and thinking that Roy is not married _to him_ but to some stranger, would make Edward feel, never came to Roy’s mind. Until now. And Roy didn’t really had to think to hard to know what kind of feelings it could be.

“It is him, actually,” Roy answered hesitantly, and Ed stared at him blankly. “And he is absent at the moment.” Which technically was not even a lie, but for some reason felt as one, and Roy cringed internally.  

“Oh. Ah, wow, ok,” Edward mumbled looking anywhere but Roy and clearly feeling uncomfortable. Roy wanted to step to him and smooth the crease between the blonde eyebrows with his fingers, but he forced himself to stay where he was.  “I mean. I didn’t know you’re… I mean I thought you preferred women.”

Edward _almost_ looked heartbroken and it was breaking Roy’s heart in return. The unpleasant and inapt feeling settled in the pit of Roy’s stomach. He was raised well enough to not be too familiar with it, but everyone had made some mistakes in the past, and, to his shame, Roy was not an exception, and instantly recognised what it was.

Thankfully, feeling that he cheated on his own husband with his own husband was too absurd to struggle with this misplaced guilt for too long.

“I prefer whoever I am in love with. Gender doesn’t matter.” It was a bit bizarre and certainly unpleasant saying such things to the face of his basically soon to-be husband, watching said face fighting down the expression of almost betrayal. Roy knew, Ed had been in love with him for years before they had gotten together. Seeing such naked hurt in his eyes now was almost enough for Roy to reassure the young man that it was him who Roy was married to. Almost, but not enough.

“I bet the brass was not happy,” Edward said quietly, frowning even deeper, and Roy had to tighten his grip on the railing, so as not to do anything that could mess with their own past ― and present as a result ― even more. Though, probably it was already too late...

“They had to accept my decision.” It sounded simple enough, but in fact it was a period of time longer than both of them would’ve preferred of constant dealing with borderline homophobic accusations from the rest of the military, that didn’t seem to care that same-sex marriages were officially legalised in Amestris, or, at least, was convinced that this did not apply to the military. Edward being the Alchemist of the People had really helped them there. But even with the support of the citizens and the majority of the press, it was the period in Roy and Ed’s lives they both wanted to if not forget, but at least seriously edit the memories they had from back then.

“I see. Ok. Good for you.” Edward cleared his throat and smiled, but Roy could easily see how fake it was.  “Do I know him?” He asked, finally looking up in Roy’s eyes. The railing under Roy’s fingers creaked and he hastened to removed his hand from it.

“Edward, I don’t think it would be smart if you knew too much of the future.”

Edward made a step back and raised both of his hands palms up, eyes jerking to the side. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said fast, and licked his lips in what Roy knew was a nervous gesture. “I just… Yeah, sure.” He nodded, either to Roy’s words or some thoughts in his head, shoved his hands in the pants pockets and stared at the opposite from him wall with unreadable expression in his eyes.

The awkward silence followed, Edward was studying an empty wall, worrying his lip, and Roy was again too aware that he was standing in the hall with just his boxers on.

“I should probably go get dressed,” Roy spoke and fought down a chuckle, when Edward’s cheeks filled with blush.“Yeah, go do that,” he answered, without turning his head to Roy.

Roy started going up the stairs and threw _I’ll be right back_ above his shoulder.

“Yeah, whatever. I’m not going anywhere.” Roy was already closing the door to his room behind himself, when he heard a sigh from downstairs and Edward added quietly, “Probably…”

~

When Roy came back down, now dressed in the casual pants and simple white t-shirt, the hall was empty, and there was a short dreadful moment when the thought that something went wrong and now even that Edward was gone stopped Roy on his track. The soft rustle of paper coming from the kitchen made Roy let out the breath he had been holding, and shaking himself from all kinds of pessimistic thoughts, he quickly walked there, stepping over the remains of his unfulfilled breakfast.

Edward was sitting at the kitchen table with a thoughtful expression on his face. He heard Roy walk in and looked up, emotions pooling in the depths of his eyes, confused crease between his slightly tilted in question brows and hopeful expression on his face. And Roy realised that no matter what he said — or more like what he didn’t or wouldn’t say — to this Edward, it wouldn’t change anything. Because he already saw enough and made his conclusion that was probably pretty accurate.

There were traces of Ed all over their house: clothes in the hall, notes scattered on almost every available horizontal surface, some stray alchemy books from the small library upstair sitting here and there. Roy had always preferred having things on their places. His house, before Ed moved here, had been kept in perfect order. Ed completely shattered it in the first few days he started living here, spreading himself everywhere like entropy, filling the house, that before seemed too big and empty to Roy, with parts of himself. Roy had concerns about it for exactly as long as it took him to realise that even when Ed was out of his sight or even out of the city, he could still feel his presence in every corner of his ― now their ― house. Roy never tried making a comment to him. He never asked him to keep his books and notes in the study or not to leave his boots in the kitchen and his tea cup in the bathroom. There was not a single day since then when Roy felt lonely. Forgetting this feeling was worth any mess.

And it was impossible not to notice, especially considering that the bigger part of the table was practically covered in sheets of paper, Ed’s shaky handwriting, schemes and formulas all over them. Edward dropped his gaze down, looking at the papers from the corner of his eyes. He was unusually silent, frowning at his thoughts, but he didn’t comment on his discoveries, for which Roy was grateful. This time travelling was still not clear enough to him and he wasn’t sure how much of what was happening here with this past Edward could eventually change what Roy and Ed had had until now.

“So, Edward, how are you going to solve this?” Roy asked, feeling rather stupid deciding to entirely ignore the elephant in the room, but he had a feeling he was not the only one. It made it slightly easier in a way. “Because as much as I enjoy your company, I believe it would benefit everyone if you get things to the way they were before you decided to play with an array you barely knew anything about.”

The sound of light mockery Roy let himself to slightly pour in his voice seemingly shook Edward from his thoughtful state.

“I didn’t _play_ with it, you bastard!” Edward almost jumped in his chair in his indignation, and bared his teeth at Roy. “And I told you, I _studied_ it! With you, by the way! Don’t you remember that? You should fucking remember that, Mustang.”

“What exactly should I remember, Ed?” Roy filled the pot with water for tea and put it on the oven, snapping his fingers to lit up the gas.

“Xing, I told you. 1919, we met there and talked about this array.”

_Oh._

It was that diplomatic mission, where Roy arrived to Xing to discuss political matters with the Emperor Ling and stumbled ― quite literally ― upon Edward in the palace’s halls. It had been almost two years since Roy had heard anything from Edward or even knew anything about his whereabouts. He had been surprised, but most of all he had found himself smiling happily at the unexpected encounter ― he had almost accepted that there was a chance he would never see the elder Elric again, and it had costed him a certain amount of heartache.

And of course Roy gladly took that opportunity to spend as much time in the company of his former subordinate as he was technically able to and as could still be considered socially appropriate.

The second part was quickly forgotten, as soon as Edward barged into Roy’s room in the middle of the night, sputtering something rather nonsensical about some old array he’d found in one of the ancient books in the palace’s library. Roy was happy to talk alchemy with Edward, and they spent a good part of the next several nights arguing about said array.

“ _That_ array then,” Roy said with a sigh. He really should’ve known back then Edward wouldn’t be able to resist at least trying the alchemy like that.

“Yep.”

“I see. And how will you fix this, Ed?” Roy asked, taking to cups from the cupboard and turning back to the table.

“I won’t. The me from here who is now in my time will.”

“You might want to clarify this, Ed.” Roy eyed the paper mess on it critically. He would need to move it if he wanted to make room for their cups without risking spilling the tea on Ed’s work. And Ed hated when Roy touched his papers. Despite the obvious disarray Ed always left them in, Roy had long learned that there was a system there, that only Ed could see.

Edward, apparently, noticed Roy’s hesitation, because the next moment he was rolling his eyes and, taking just another second to throw a look at the messy notes ― Roy was pretty sure he had thrown more than one look at them when Roy had been upstairs ― quickly arranged them in three piles of different sizes. He tapped his finger at the last sheet, before folding his hands before him on the table, and Roy could see him curling his lips in a smile.

“What I did would be the past for him, right?” Edward said, not acknowledging what just happened. “So for it to be his ― my ― past I should be able to get back to my time from here, and wait four years to get to this point in time where we are now. And since he ― I ― was able to get to the point where he was thrown back in time by me activating that array, this means he already once got safely back from his past. I am in the future now, but I am the past one, you see, so whatever I do here he already knows and remembers, so if I try to do something with that array now it might mess with his memories and the whole timeline, so I’ll just let him do all the work since he already knows more than I do about it and let him switch us back.” Edward leaned at the back of the chair after he finished talking and folded his arms, satisfied smile on his face.

Roy decided not to question what exactly made him feel so happy ― the supposed simplicity with which he was hoping to solve this problem, or that it was not him who would have to do all the hard work.

“But if he does everything right it should be in the past from this moment, so shouldn’t it be immediate?” he asked instead. “If he is able to reverse it couldn’t he do it in the same moment as you both switched places?”

“I’m not sure,” Edward shook his head slightly, grabbed one of the cups Roy had put on the table, and started absentmindedly tilting it in his hands. “Probably some sort of equivalent exchange too. He does need time to solve it and change the array. So probably as much time as he is spending in the past I should spend in the future.”

“But what if he is not there?” Roy didn’t really want to think of such a possibility, but he had to acknowledge that it was indeed possible, that that array worked not exactly the way Edward expected it to.

“What do you mean not there? I just explained you that we switched places.”

“But shouldn’t I have memories of it?” Roy asked, fishing his memory for any signs of the four-years older Edward appearing during that time in Xing.

“Well, perhaps you’ve forgotten, you are old after all,” Edward shrugged, dismissing Roy’s doubts.

“I’m not o―” Roy stopped himself and sighed, when Edward gave him a flat look. “Anyway, I am sure I would remember meeting a time-traveler, Ed.”

Edward opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it again, and hummed. “Well, we did part ways before I accidentally activated that array, so maybe my future self decided not to bother you or something? Or he is just busy working on reversing it. I don’t understand what you are so worked up about, Mustang, you could learn to trust me at least a little bit, even I am less worried than you, and it is _me_ who is being thrown through time, not you.” The accusation sounded rather sincere, but aside from reassuring Edward, that he did indeed trust him ― and he really did ― Roy had nothing else to offer, and he doubted his words would be worth much to Edward in this particular situation.

“You are probably right, Ed, sorry for doubting you,” Roy said, raising his hands in defeat. Edward eyed him suspiciously, tilting a brow in surprise ― he probably expected more arguing and not an apology, but Roy had learned long time ago in which situations arguing with Ed might result in something, if not productive, at least entertaining, and in which it would not lead to nothing but wasted time and sore throats.

“Whatever, bastard. So, you are sure nothing interesting happened then? It’s your second week in Xing, and it’s the fifth’s night when we are discussing this array. I can tell you the date as well, but I doubt it’ll help.”

Oh, Roy did remember that night, actually. He would never forget the night when, after a thousandth time talking and arguing about that array Ed had found until their throats went raw, he had finally bid Ed a good night and was getting ready to sleep, when he heard insistent knocks at his door, and opened it to a flushed Ed, who was nervously biting his lip and fighting a grin. He’d slipped into Roy’s room then, kicking the door closed behind him, grabbed Roy by the neck of his shirt, and with a breathless ‘ _Finally’,_ that rather accurately described Roy’s own thoughts at the moment, pulled him down to their first kiss.

It was one of the Roy’s favorite memories, but he of course knew better than to tell Edward about it. It was already enough that Edward most definitely already knew who Roy’s mysterious absent husband was.

And now that Roy thought about the events of that day in the light of what this Edward from four years ago had just told him, he couldn’t help but question, if only briefly, if it was possible that that Ed, who put a start to their relationship back than, was actually the Ed from this time, the one, who had already been with Roy for years, and perhaps found it amusing to mess with him once he’d found himself in the past.

The thought came and left at almost the same instant ― Roy remembered too vividly, how inexperienced and sloppy, but eager and hungry Ed’s kisses were back then; how Roy could see the red flush on his cheeks even in the poor light of a small lamp on a nightstand; how unskillful but impatient were flesh and metal fingers on Roy’s skin, after they almost ripped Roy’s shirt in attempt to get to the body behind the fabric. Roy remembered how Ed was trembling under him, cursing and begging, and falling apart so intensely and beautifully. And even if Ed hadn’t told him that himself after they were lying in a panting sweaty mess among tangled sheets, Roy had known with absolute certainty, that that had been Ed’s first lovemaking and first kisses.

He had no doubt now that he hadn’t seen the future Ed back then. What had he been doing then, when he found himself in the past? Or could this Ed possibly be wrong, and Roy’s husband had not switched places with him, but been sent somewhere else?..

Roy’s mouth suddenly went dry and he licked his lips nervously. He must trust Ed, what else could he do?

“No, Ed, I don’t remember anything interesting from that day,” he lied. The water boiled and he took the kettle off the stove, pouring them both some tea. “But I remember rather clearly that I insisted that you didn’t attempt using that array. We didn’t know enough about it, it could’ve been dangerous.” _It still can._

“Nah, don’t worry,” Edward waved him off, now looking completely relaxed, sprawled in the chair, left arm on its back and his cup of tea in the hand of the right one. He almost looked at home here. Roy painfully wanted his Ed back. “If me from this time is alive and kicking, it all went well.”

“Why are you so sure?” Roy joined Edward at the table, frowning at his own tea, only now realising that he made them both this drink more automatically, than consciously ― if anything, he needed coffee more, as for something stronger the hour was way too early even for Roy’s conscience, quite flexible in this matter.

Edward sipped his tea, and Roy saw his eyes widen and tear up at the scalding heat of it, but unsurprisingly Edward refused to acknowledge that he might have acted without thinking by taking such a large sip. Wouldn’t be the first time for him today.  “It already happened for him, I told you, so I am just going through his steps.” He let go of the cup, and looked up at Roy with a wide grin. “Damn, Mustang, this is so exciting. Isn’t this exciting?!”

Roy ignored his joyful mood, instead trying to make him see the potentially negative sides of the situation they were in. “But you couldn’t know that when you activated it, what if something went wrong? I warned you it could be dangerous.”

“Dammit, Mustang, I told you it was an accident.”

“You _accidentally_ clapped your hands and touched the array we had been talking about for hours right after we parted ways and just a few minutes after I told you not to do that?”

“Hey, I don’t listen to you anymore, I am not your subordinate!” The grin left Edward’s face replaced with an annoyed frown, and he even rose from his chair a little, as if thinking whether it was worth it throwing himself across the table in attempt to kick Roy’s ass.

“Not that you listened to me when you were. And you just admitted that it was not an accident,” Roy answered calmly, completely ignoring the threat of Edward’s outburst.

“Whatever, bastard.” Edward huffed, and dropped back in his chair, folding his arms and looking to the side.

“It was a bad decision.”

“Hey, bad decisions make good stories.” Edward didn’t sound too convinced in his own words when he said that, and Roy tilted his brow at him. “And everything is fine with me here isn’t it? Am I fine?”

“You are not even here now, how would I know!” Roy didn’t even try to hide how upset he was anymore.

“It’s irrelevant, bastard, how long are you going to brood about it?” Edward slammed his metal hand on the table, and Roy’s tea, that he hadn’t even touched yet, spilled a bit from the cup. He almost unconsciously moved the pile of Ed’s notes closest to the mess farther.

“I’m not brooding, Edward.”

“Maybe not, but you’re definitely overthinking! Dammit, Mustang, I know what I’m doing, and even if _I_ don’t, than me from this time knows, because he remembers all that and all the stupid shit you are saying to me right now, so if you want to be a bastard so much and so hesitant to trust me, could you just fucking trust _him_ then?!”

“Ed…” It was a hit below the belt and the closest they came to acknowledging the nature of their relationship. Roy locked his eyes with Edward’s, and whatever Edward saw there, made him avert his gaze, and he asked much calmer, than before,

“Is me from this time fine or not?”

“You are fine.”

“And Al?”

“He is doing great,” Roy answered honestly, and added after a short moment of hesitation. “Winry too.”

Edward nodded to himself, swallowed, and looked at him from under his bangs. “...And you?”

“I’m good, Ed, thank you for asking.” Roy let himself smile a little.

“See? No big deal.”

For Roy it was a big deal but arguing about semantics wouldn’t take them anywhere. “Anyway, I am positive, the only you I saw then was you from that time. And besides, if this, as you said, already happened for you from this time, wouldn’t you have told me about this?”

“Apparently, I haven’t.” Edward’s eyes quickly flickered to the ring on Roy’s finger and then back to his face. He arranged his face in that angry expression, that Roy knew too well was anything but actually angry, and which main purpose was to hide what Ed actually felt, or more like his inability to decide at the moment what to feel, but the blush on his cheeks gave Roy a pretty close idea of what some of those confusing for Edward feelings might have been. “And I won’t!” There was some finality in the way he said that, and Roy just chuckled at the almost childish way it sounded and refrained from arguing further, instead turning his attention to the cooling tea.

They drank their tea in silence, both avoiding looking at each other and lost in their thoughts. Roy raised his head only when he heard Edward setting a cup back on the table. Edward was looking blankly before him, worrying his lower lip, and Roy could see he wanted to ask more.

He sighed and put his own empty cup on the table, leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Spit it out, Edward,” he said tiredly.

“You said ‘again’,” Edward spoke instantly as if he had been waiting for Roy to give him this opening.

“What?”

“You said you dropped the tray again. There was breakfast there. This other me was making a breakfast. I don’t do this. I never make breakfast for anyone but Al.”

“Ed.” Clearly, the breakfast was the last thing that could probably be taken into evidence here, but perhaps it was easier for Edward rather than calling a spade a spade. Roy wasn’t sure he would act any different if he was on Edward’s place.

“And you call me Ed. You never call me Ed. And you walked to me just in your fucking underwear like no big deal.”

“Ed. Why are you doing this?”

“And all the stuff,” he pointed at the notes and waved his hand in the air in the general direction of the living room. So he _did_ help himself with a little tour of the house while Roy was dressing up upstairs. Well, he shouldn’t be surprised, really.

“What do you want me to say, Ed?”

“I… I just…”

“You already know. But in any case I don’t think it is a good idea to talk about it.”

“No, I don’t need… I must know.”

“What?”

Everything should be clear to Edward like an open book, what else―

“Are you happy?”

Two golden eyes were holding Roy’s gaze, a small crease between the blonde eyebrows ― not angry, but focused. Edward was waiting patiently, and as much as the question was unexpected, Roy could see that this was important for Edward to know.

He could tell him that, didn’t he?…

“Yes. Very.”

Edward nodded and looked down at his hands on the table, frown fading away and a wide smile curling his lips. He didn’t ask whether he himself was happy in this relationship but perhaps he didn’t need to.

“Good. That’s good.”

He raised his head, smile still wide and bright and so hopeful, and his eyes locked for a moment with Roy’s and Roy couldn’t help but smile in return.

“Can I… If… I mean four years ago in Xing, when I come back there, if I… You know. Are you already… you know. Can I…”

Roy knew what Edward was asking without him saying this.

_Are you already in love with me? Does it mean I shouldn’t wait anymore?_

And answering Edward’s question Roy already knew that this was what made it, the first stone in their relationship, the first step. It was not some sudden revelation that occured to Ed those four years ago that made him knock at his door in Xing in the middle of the night, not some desperation that led him, not the break in his patience. It was not an act of recklessness, but a solid knowledge. And not just his trip to the future where he saw all the evidence of their relationship with his own eyes, but it was Roy’s own...

“Yes.”

...here and now said to Edward from his past, who was just about an hour away from being hungrily kissed by past Roy in his room in Xing’s palace, that made the relationship between two people, who loved too much, but doubted even more, possible.

And Ed had never told him about this memory, keeping this secret for years. And Roy thought that all his own romantic gestures faded in comparison to this simple act that probably made their relationship a bit more real, and a big deal more romantic.

The happy smile and golden loving eyes were the last thing Roy saw before he blinked, and then opened his eyes to the Ed with a messy bedhead of long golden hair, who was wearing just a white shirt that was a bit too big for him, and a wide knowing grin, and who was now quite literally climbing to him across the table, letting their cups fall down on the notes already scattered on the floor, which were apparently not as important as, with a breathless _Roy,_ attacking Roy’s lips in an almost bruising kiss, and before Roy knew it, he had a full lap and armfull of his beloved husband, who was pressing to him with such urge, as if they had been separated not just for a couple of morning hours, but several years, that seemed too long.

And he just missed him, he so missed him.  

* * *

 

## Omake.

“So, I suppose we now can add today as another date to the list of our anniversaries.”

“Yeah, the second one. Such a fucking list, Roy. That’s a stupid thing to celebrate, I told you a million times. We practically celebrate it almost every night.”

“But that’s the only day of a year where you actually let me shower you in compliments without trying to punch me. And now I will have two.”

“In sappiness. Drown. Drown me in sappiness.”

“I should’ve known back then that you suggesting to get married on the same day that we had gotten together was uncharacteristically romantic of you. I really should’ve known better.”

“Too bad I didn’t manage to pull this trick again with this time-travel.”

“So, tell me love, was it this time travel that made you come to me that night?”

“Actually I was planning to do it anyway.”

“Oh, were you, now? And when would’ve that been?”

“I was thinking about a day before you were leaving Xing. So, like, in three days or so.”

“How cruel of you, Ed.”

“Wouldn’t want to spoil you. What? Why are you smiling like an idiot?”

“I just realised that thanks to you using that array I have extra three days of the pleasure of having you, Ed.”

“And you were the one whining that I should not use it in the first place. And what, it makes you three days more sappy or something?”

“It makes me a million days more _happy_.”

“I don’t think you can measure happiness in days, Roy.”

“I don’t think I can ever measure my happiness when it comes to having you in my life.”

“Sap.”

“I love you, Ed. So much.”

“I know… I love you too, Roy.”

**Author's Note:**

> I think it's the lamest thing I've written, Himeneka says it's one of my best. I am confused and reflecting on my life's choices.
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> Please, drop me a line in the comments to let me know what you think, it will make my day! ^_^
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> UPD. I discovered that there is a shitton of typos in the fic, that both I and Himeneka missed in my _’I must post it NOW or I’ll lose my mind!’_ outburst. I’ll fix all the mess in a couple of days. Sorry ‘bout that.


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